Smokey Fire Trucks still going strong in Kuwait 25 years after the Oil Field Fires

In late February 1991 the Safety Boss emergency response plan moved into high gear. Enough equipment to support three full crews was mobilized in Calgary AB. On April 5 the first of two US Air force C5 Galaxies arrived in Calgary to airlift equipment and men to Kuwait City.

The two C5’s carried 2.5 million dollars’ worth of equipment including three full sized Smokey Series fire trucks, H2S units, office trailers, tool trucks, tons of foam and dry chemical and enough equipment and spare parts to last a year.

Our Smokey Fire Trucks were developed specifically for the oil field in 1983 after an especially stubborn oil fire in Alberta.

While fighting the Kuwait Oil Field fires, the Fire Trucks worked 24 hours a day for 200 continuous days.

After the fires were extinguished and the crews were heading home, the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) Fire Department asked if they could purchase the fire trucks that did such an amazing job putting out 180 fires in just 200 days.

Grant Kelly, Safety Boss Senior Technical HSE Advisor who is currently in Kuwait, asked if they still had the trucks.

Grant says, “These KOC guys are so gracious. When I asked about the old Smokey units they called to their base out in the Bergan field and 2 of the Firefighters drove Smokey 3 in to the KOC headquarters building in Ahmadi for me to see her. As you can see they’ve taken the equipment off the back and replaced with a water tank. They are proud of her and have looked after her well. The engine still purrs. They say that Smokey 1 is also working well.”

25 years later, Smokey 3, seen here, and Smokey 1 are still in great condition and still fighting fires.

Mike Miller, Safety Boss CEO, said “Its great to see that old girl and nice to see that they have kept it up so well. The KOC Fire Department were our partners in the Kuwait Fires Project. Several of them were on our three teams and they did a outstanding job. Many were involved in the last well killed, which was exceptionally large. I have very fond memories of their team members working very hard along side of us in the absolute worst conditions. They were very committed and courageous and it was my honor to work with them.”

He goes on to say, “As far as those firetrucks go; no firetrucks in the world have seen the severe duty like those ones did during the Kuwait Fires Project. They pumped millions and millions of gallons of water and foam day after day after day without a single hour of down time. The Kuwait Fires Project was the biggest firefighting challenge that has ever occurred anywhere. Those firetrucks were a large part of our success because we could move so fast from one well to another. They deserve to be preserved and I am happy to see them respect that.”

We are very proud of our Smokey Fire Truck Series and are happy to see these trucks still going strong all these years later.

Safety Boss crew assessing the scene and planning the next steps to get the well under control. For more images of this well control, see the “Romania Well Control” gallery here. Share this:Click to [...]

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